Ferdinand Hernandez takes senior deputy speaker post, replaces Suarez
MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Ferdinand "Dinand" Hernandez has quickly moved up the House leadership ladder after being elected senior deputy speaker on Wednesday, replacing Rep. David "Jay-Jay" Suarez, who was demoted to deputy speaker.
Before the plenary session adjourned on November 19, Deputy Majority Leader Wowo Fortes made two successive motions: first, to elect Hernandez, and later to install Suarez in Hernandez’s former post as deputy speaker. Both motions were approved.
Hernandez, a lawyer who hails from South Cotabato's 2nd District, comes from the same political party as Speaker Bojie Dy — the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas. It is the same party chaired by President Bongbong Marcos.
In October, just a month after Dy was elected to replace Rep. Martin Romualdez, Hernandez was elected deputy speaker of the 20th Congress.
He was also named chair of the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) Review and Compliance Committee, which oversees the filing, disclosure, and public access to the SALNs of all House members and employees.
Before his last election, the newly installed senior deputy speaker held no leadership posts and was not appointed deputy or assistant majority leader during Romualdez’s brief return as speaker.
Like Dy, Hernandez is also a returning member of the chamber. Before winning in the 2025 midterm elections, he served three consecutive terms from 2013 to 2022, which was his first stint as a lawmaker.
During the 17th and 18th Congresses under the Duterte administration, Hernandez served as deputy speaker. He previously ran under PDP-Laban, the previous ruling party under former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Meanwhile, Suarez has been one of Romualdez's long-time allies. He currently serves as Lakas-CMD's executive vice president and was also a senior deputy speaker in the 19th Congress under Romualdez's speakership.
Since the flood control scandal broke, Lakas-CMD — along with Suarez — has consistently defended Romualdez against allegations that he helped mangle the budget to secure a share of government projects.
Even after former Rep. Elizaldy Co, once publicly viewed as close to Romualdez, accused the former speaker of threatening him and permitting alleged budget insertions, Suarez continued to stand by him, saying in Lakas-CMD’s statement that no evidence supports such claims.
The leadership change comes on the heels of another Cabinet shake-up following the exit of former Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and former Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman — departures that came just days after Co accused them, the president and the former speaker of misappropriating funds.
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